News

Bitten by the calendar

For Brent Hostetler of Plain City, Ohio the condition of the soil is more important than the date on the calendar when it comes to corn planting.

“In the past, probably five years we’ve gotten bitten by the calendar, planting too early,” said Hostetler. “The weather would be beautiful for maybe a week or two and planting conditions would be perfect and then we’d have some snow on top of the corn, so I’m not in as much of a hurry to plant early as I used to be, put it that way.”

Ideally, Hostetler likes to have the corn crop planted by the last week of April. This spring, depending on what fields are ready, they could plant some soybeans before corn.

And while spring weather can certainly present challenges, when it is time to get the crop planted, Brent can then be faced with a challenge of a different sort, traffic.

“I’m trying to get to work the same time as other people are trying to get to work, so a little common courtesy both ways goes along way,” Brent said. “A lot of people don’t understand that.”

Hostetler serves as President of the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association.

Audio: Brent Hostetler, farmer, Plain City, Ohio (4:40 mp3)_Spring 2014